Iran businessman’s $2 billion never blocked, say investigators
Despite his claims, an Iranian investigative team has revealed that Babak Zanjani's money was never blocked in foreign banks.
An investigation into the business dealings of one of Iran’s richest and most flamboyant businessman has countered claims of blocked money and revealed a deeper network of corruption.
Reformist newspaper Shargh’s Amene Shirafkan spoke to members of parliament’s Article 90 Committee and other officials involved in the high profile case.
The investigative team dispatched by Iran’s judiciary to Turkey, Tajikistan and Malaysia has revealed other assets belonging to Babak Zanjani, Iran’s celebrity businessman who referred to himself as an “economic Basij.” At one time, Zanjani claimed to be worth $14 billion. He became famous for talking casually about this wealth with BBC Persian, posting pictures of the hotels and airlines that he owned on Facebook. A video of him dancing with women (taboo for officials in the Islamic Republic) in Tajikistan also recently went viral.
“Information that has come into our hands is about the funds that Babak Zanjani claims were blocked,” said Mohammad Ali Pourmokhtar, a member of the Article 90 Committee. “I mean the 2 billion euros [$2.8 billion] that he would always talk about and said that the reason he can’t bring the money into the country is because of the sanctions. Now news has come to us that there was never any blocking [of money] at work.”
